She made this Vegas showgirl costume. Yeah, I know, she stinks. Of course, she hadn't had any kids yet in this picture.

And here she is as Marge. You can't really tell from this photo, but she actually dyed her skin yellow for this!

And how could I forgotten this costume I did! I guess you'll only recognize him if you live in an area with a Six Flags Amusement Park. A couple years ago, they played commercials with this little old man dancing to a fun little song. My son carried a small tape recorder and danced around to the song while trick-or-treating.

My baby threw up in her sleep last night at midnight. She was lying on my bed. I stripped her jammies off, wrapped them in my puke-covered comforter and threw the whole mess outside in the rain. Then I put her in the tub and scrubbed her down. Gag! After that vomit extravaganza, I was afraid to go to sleep lest she get sick again, so I stayed up until 9:00 in the morning. I'm glad I stayed awake because she continued to throw up about every 45 minutes, all night long. I figure we'll all have it by next week when we leave for Florida. That should make for a fun trip. Needless to say, I'm tired. I'm heading to bed and hoping that no one wakes me up with buckets of vomit tonight.

OH! I almost forgot! One of my readers sent me this link to the ABC segment! If you missed it, you can see it HERE.

Hi Dawn, great to see the ABC segment. And did they say 4000$ a month? That's great, but come on, girl, you can do better than that! ;-) Times are gonna change for your family, your husband's days of working from 6 am 'till 9 pm are almost over...Keep up the excellent work! Mum power to the maximum!!

Sounds like what we had - good luck! I don't think I've ever taken the vomit-soaked stuff and thrown it outside - but it sounds like a good idea to me. Back when I was 38 weeks pregnant with my fourth, my oldest threw up over a comforter and a sleeping bag and they wouldn't fit in our washer and I was hysterical because the whole thing made me feel so sick, so my husband stuffed everything into garbage bags to be dealt with later and of course "later" was about 6 months down the road (I mean, c'mon - we had a baby, okay?) and by then of course we just had to throw everything out (so, um, good thing they were in garbage bags, right?). Ah, fond memories!

My pediatrician recommended giving a teaspoon of heavy peach syrup from a can of peaches to help with nausea. I tried it the last time my daughter was sick and it seemed to help. Plus, she liked it which is a real problem around here because my kids don't like 7-up! I hope your daughter feels better soon and it's only the 12 hour flu. Have fun in Florida.

Oh yeah, I've loved your halloween pics. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. My husband and I went as snow miser and heat miser one year. I put this ice makeup on my face. It was awful! Your idea was much better.

Ahhh, the old tossing the vomit covered comforter out in the rain story. Good times, good times. I love your blog! I am a stay at home mom of 4 kiddos and found that I cannot read your blog when my children are around because I laugh so hard they think something is wrong with me!

I absolutely love that Edward Scissorhands costume! She looks eerily like him. The six flags one is HI-la-ri-ous! And the one of your sister in the showgirl costume makes me want to go vomit on my comforter!! :) Lucky girl!

Thanks for posting the link to the ABC segment! Whoa, we have the same kitchen! How weird it was to be looking at it on TV LOL! You go girl, 4K a month on ads? Now that's a stay at home mom! You have such a wonderful God given talent, I am so happy for you to be able to reap rewards for your hard work. Sorry about baby, hope she is over it and I will pray it doesn't get the rest of you! Your blogging gives me peace :)

The ABC segment was great. I am so proud of you! I love your attitude, your humor, your love of your children, and your love of words. You make me laugh each morning, and you speak for all of us MOM's (Moms of Many). I wish you much success with the book and your other adventures.

Uggggghhhhhh Dawn I have been battling a bug for a few days now. I am not sick sick but I just feel icky all day long. Please tell me it wont lead to hurling in bed. Casue if it does I will be the one that has to clean it up. GRoss.

Nice seeing you on that clip. thats sooo cool. Yea DAWN!!!

Ok I am going to close cause I am queasy. Ick. I need someone to take care of me!!!! Take care Elisabeth

Hope baby is feeling better soon, trust me it is worse when 3 children do that all night long, within minutes of each other...and you don't own a washing machine. Those were not the good ole days for us. Sis' does some awesome costumes, love them. Six Flags Gurnee brought us the commercials so great costume idea.

Stomach bugs are the worst for me. My son used to get them if anyone in a 50 mi. radius had the bug. He was a magnet. Emetrol is great for nausea if you get one that just can't quit vomiting. Edward Scissorshands - what a great costume!! And I love the old man from Six Flags too! What a hoot! My son has to dress as a baker this year for preschool so I got my mom to make him an apron (I don't sew either) and then I talked him in to trick-or-treating as a baker and his sister too so mom is making another apron and two hats to boot! Thanks for your blog. I used to look for the newspaper first thing in the morning... now I go to your blog. :) Sherryhttp://strideright1988.blogspot.com/

I am amazed by your sister's creativity & crafting talent! And in that showgirl picture, she looks like she could be a model.All that creativity & talent must run in your family, 'cause your costume ideas were cool, too - I love the whack-a-mole!

I must admit that I have been reading your blog for a little while now, but I have never commented. Today, however I just had to say that you and your sister have created some awesome costumes! I especially love the 6 Flags old guy costume. That is so clever. I can't wait to see what you come up with this year!

The two of you are very creative! My Mom made our costumes as well... We were Flowers, American Indians, crayons, French Maids, Harem girls... My favorite was being a hobo... They dressed me up in my Dads clothes! (Sorry Dad!) ;)

We've been dealing with the same thing at my house. My baby girl Well she'll be 2 in December started tuesday evening and continued ever 10-30 min until 4am or so. It was aweful and now my Hubby has it. (but he's a bigger baby)lol I think it's all around the country! Hope you don't get it too. Melissa

So sorry to here about your baby, hope she feels better! I can relate to the many instances of waking up to the lovely sounds of your child vomiting, nothing better than that, NOT. With 4 kids I have my fair share of story's and I am one of those mom's who does not handle vomiting well, I am trying not to vomit myself while trying to help my child....hope your family does not catch this and hope you get some sleep!

Ahhh.....the joys of vomit! Like me, you have nowhere to isolate one sick child to keep the others from catching it! I hope that those who are unfortunate enough to be victimized by this virus, that it moves swiftly and as painlessly as possible before your trip.

I finally got to watch your segment...great job! I am a Dawn-wanna-be! :)

I LOVE your blog! Great costumes too, now I need to get started. I have a 5 yr old and 3 yr old triplets. I love your perspective on life and how you make the "everyday" things funny.ThanksKimhttp://tabor6pack.blogspot.com/

6 yr old vomit is even more disgusting than 2 yr old vomit. One night, my son projectile vomited while still asleep all over his bedroom, not one, not two, but three times. (He even had a bucket the second and third times). We are talking vomit on the walls people! Plus, he hadn't picked up his room, so I had to inspect and/or clean each toy that was lying on the floor! Many toys found their way to the trash that day.

We had the puke bug in my house this week. I have five, and I totally understand just waiting for it to hit them one by one. It's so disheartening when one gets sick. Because you know it will make its rounds. It feels like it will never end. Then you get it. ugh. I hope everyone is well by the time you go next week!

awww...I have a sick one home right now too...thankfully no pukies though. I'm praying you got caught up on your sleep (yeah I know, like THAT ever happens!), that Brooklyn is better, and that no one else catches it.

I LOVE that you threw everything out into the rain. That is something I would SO do. Can't STAND that smell lol.

Some tips for trying to keep the rest of your family safe from getting sick just in case you hadn't thought of them yet:

1. Lysol is your friend.

2. Put everyone's toothbrushes through the dishwasher daily.

3. Vacation time would be a good time for new toothbrushes.

4. Get as much sleep as you all can. I know, easier said than done.

5. Eat a well rounded diet. Take extra vitamin C.

6. Regular hand washing.

I mean no offense by giving this unsolicited advice. You've probably already done most of these tips. I know how I get when I've been sleep deprived and up all night with a sick kid or six. I'll pray for your family's health.

Must have been the night for vomit! My 16 month old threw up in his bed... yuck! I hate that smell as it permeates the entire upstairs! We were a one time only performance brought on by ice cream topped by too much milk. Hope you can get some sleep tonight!

Hey Dawn...hope Brooklyn feels better soon, and that everyone else steers clear of her so that you're all healthy for your vacation trip to Florida!

That reminds me of when my middle guy had some awful stomach thing, and while changing his clothes from a #2 accident that looked more like a #1, he threw up AND pooed at the same time. On my bedroom carpet. The little honey felt so awful about making a mess he grabbed a (clean) towel and tried to clean it up before I saw what happened (I was downstairs putting his soiled clothing in the wash before it had a chance to disappear into a dog kennel) so I wouldn't be upset with him. I couldn't have even if I wanted to...I just felt so bad for him! Forty-eight hours later, no one would ever have guessed he was ever so sick. Except for Derrick, who was next in line for the fun.

Great Halloween costumes! Haven't gotten that far here yet. There's still a week and a half...it'll happen LOL

Love the costumes! My husband made an Edward Scissorhands costume and won a prize - then the next year I went as Ms. Edward Scissorhands. Maybe I'll put the pictures on my blog. Also, I woke up to find my son covered in vomit this morning! That is going to be my next post. Ah, the joys of motherhood, huh?!

Yay, I was hoping to be able to see the news segment some time.Your costumes are awesome! Ours were always last minute growing up; once my brother was supposed to be a pumpkin but we didnt' have anything orange. My mom put him in a pink blanket and stuffed it with newspaper... which promptly all fell to the bottom of the costume. I'm sure NO one had any idea what he was.And my daughter threw up over me repeatedly one night, the day after we had just moved across three states! We had nothing out with which to clean her or change her into. Luckily, it was warm out so she didn't need pajamas! Yuck.

Wow--I'm so impressed with you and your sister's talent and creativity!

So, mom-to-mom, what did you do when your daughter kept throwing up? Did you have to keep changing the sheets and scrubbing her down? Or did you just relocate her "bed" to the bathtub and run the water every time she was threw up again? (I'm trying to imagine how one handles this type of situation).

Yikes! So sorry about the baby - that stinks! My son thought he was Buzz Lightyear last night and "flew" off his dresser!! Check out my blog about it!! Not good.Anyways, Have a Wonderful Vaca. Are you going to Disney? I live in South Florida - it's HOTTT here, so pack lightly. Have a great time.Mom of 2

I finally saw the ABC clip. Good job with the chocolate pudding on national TV. Only on national TV can you get away with feeding your kids who can't eat regular foods pudding. I'd probably would have done it too.

Dawn,It was good to see the segment! You did a really good job vacuuming the floor, i'm so proud! I'm sorry your little one is sick. That's no fun!!My 3 year old just broke his arm, if that makes you feel any better. Actually, I would rather have a broken bone than throw up. Vomit freaks me out!! Good luck, wish I could help ya!!

Hello!I've never commented on anyone's blog before, but I just can't resist! I LOVED your ABC piece and what struck me the most was your impressive "realness" (not sure that's a word but...) So, here's to you, Dawn, a real mom being herself for all the world to see and admire! Thank You!

Whoever (or is it whomever - don't send the grammar police) sent that link to ABC is my Hero! And so is Dawn. You were great in that (you're right... they did show an awful lot of you vacuuming...).Anyway - great costumes too.And finally, when we have the 'ol puke-a-rama thing going at our house, they sleep on a bathroom floor with the old Telly Tubbies quilt. But I guess this really applies to kids a little older than Baby.Good luck - enjoy the trip. KR

One morning, my almost-two-year-old came happily into my bedroom and clambered into bed with me...about two seconds later, I realized she was covered head to toe in poop! She realized it at the same time, and started screaming (she HATES getting her hands and feet dirty). That was how we found out she was lactose intolerant.

Dawn,Thanks for the memories! I think I even owned one of those Cinderella masks! And those homemade ones really rock!Sorry to hear your baby is sick...it reminded me of a couple of weeks ago when both my kids came down with something the same night (around 3am that is). My son had only had a bunk bed for about 3 wks at that point...I'm sure you can picture what that episode was like! Oh boy did I wish we hadn't bought a bunk bed! Thanks for the video link..I was so excited to finally watch you on t.v.! And you were great!!Just realized you were on vacation this week...hope you're having a blast at Sea World!!Shelly

Your sister is very creative. Anywhere we can "buy" those costumes from her???? I would love the Heat/Freeze Miser ones. Great job on the interview with ABC too. Thanks for positing the link for us who missed it on TV.Hope your little one feels better. Remember "Moms" don't get sick days...so stay healthy!

We spent Janurary of 2001 where one of my kids threw up every day of the month. They kept passing it back and forth between the seven kids. At one point, my husband said, the next kid that throws up and misses the bathroom, I'm rubbing their face in it!! Luckily he was kidding but my kids still prefer to throw up on my floor instead of the toilet. Hopefully no one else at your house gets sick.

Wow I love the internet!!!! I just watched your interview that was soo cool.

You are truly talented and amazing and I hope you do reap all the rewards that I am sure are coming your way. I cant wait to see the creations for halloween that you come up with, I know you say they will all be ghost but I bet you create something else besides ghosts lol.

Loved the segment on ABC. I just watched it. My 3 month old is sleeping and the other 4 aren't here this weekend! I am a 24 years old. My fiance had 4 children before we had our little guy. Even though I only get the other 4 every other weekend, I can relate to some of the things you write about and some of the things I saw in your interviews. It can get hectic which is why we never go anywhere in public! Keep the good stuff coming...

My dad was a Pharmacist and this was of course back in the days with drugstore soda fountains...he used to give us Coke syrup when we were sick to settle our stomachs and it worked wonders. I hear you can get it at larger drugstores, maybe the Coke company got enough complaints about not being able to get it...anyway, the peach syrup, being another syrup, might do the same thing, or maybe it's the other ingredients. When I was pregnant the only thing that would settle my stomach enough so I could eat was Classic Coke!Fresh toothbrushes are a great idea, also teach your kids that when they are in public bathrooms to wash their hands and leave the water running, then dry their hands with the paper towel and use the paper towel to turn off the water. I mean think about it, BEFORE you used that hand to turn the water on, where had it been? And what had that hand transferred to the faucet handle??? Also, use a paper towel to grab the door handle when you leave the bathroom, as there are an amazing number of people who don't wash their hands!!! And Hepatitis A is like, so much fun after all...

Thanks for the link to the ABC segment - I don't know how I missed it. Although I was bummed that I didn't hear more from you - I would have liked to have heard you talk at length about this "journey" you have been on these last few months!What a great story that is!!!Love ya girl!

Hope "baby" is better and noone else is going to get the pukes.... I'm a pukeaphobe, but somehow manage to muscle through those horrid incidents.Great costumes. LOVE the 6 flags old man, those commercials crack me up (do do do do doooooo doooo do do do do do do doooo dooooo - I'm a better friend than singer obviously).As for the ABC segment - GREAT piece! And if you want to drag the vaccuum over here you are more than welcome to practice your vacuum skills at my house anytime LOL!

Sorry to hear about sickness in the house. We've got it here too. Up until after 2AM last night with the 3rd grader, then up again at 7AM with the 3 month old. I had to escape tonight & apparently it showed. In the grocery store at 10PM, I'm walking around as slow as possible. Reading labels, looking at random items, anything, everything. Taking my time. A man walked by with his wife and literally said, "Nice to escape, huh?" I replied, "Is it that obvious?" Must have been.

When I started reading about your daughter's vomit adventure it was almost going to be one of those days without sunshine. But I read on past the gross stuff to get to the really gross stuff....the comments folks were sending in about their throw-up tales.

Yes, I totally hate your sister...not just for her creativity and talent but for that body, pre baby or not!! Puke LOL

You on the other hand, you make my jaw drop in awe. 6 kids and your house looks better than mine, and I've only got 1!! And you're getting things accomplished. Very very jealous. So glad I was finally able to see the video. Hope you and the kids stay vomit free!

I think the biggest thing I get from your blog is the community spirit. We're all moms, of varying numbers of children, we're all women with little to no lives outside our families and we're a community that can talk through the magic of the internet.

Do we truly realize how isolated our own stay-at-home Mom's were? I know my own felt truly lonely as I was raised on a cattle ranch quite a few miles from the nearest friendly face. Back then even using the phone was problematic, since country phone lines were still "party lines" which had nothing to do with having a party and everything to do with having 4 to 5 families using the same phone line for outgoing or incoming calls.

It's a new era for all of us, but truly an era of increased sanity for all of us moms who now get to communicate so easily with one another.

I love your blog, Dawn. Keep it going, and keep going on that book as well, I'll be among the first to purchase it!

With this bug I bet you are relieved that it was the fridge, not the washing machine that broke down, though if it were my house (not yet but I am sure it's coming) the washing machine would break down at the first hint of copious vomit! (There is a bright side to everything, even a broken fridge;-D ) I hope your baby feels better soon - it is so hard to see them when they're sick.Great to finally meet you on your TV segment! $4k a month in advertising - not too shabby for you! That's about what I made when I taught full time. You deserve it and so much more!~Molly in NH

Awww!!! Sending my best get well vibes to Brooklyn!! Poor baby and poor Mommy!!

I loved the ABC segment! You were great!

The Halloween costumes were fantastic. I've done some fun and creative ones too, including the Simpsons. My twins Matt and Kate went out as Bart and Lisa one year. I also turned one of mine into a block of Lego once. Glued 6 margarine tubs onto a cardboard box and spray painted it red. The kid wore red underneath and a ball cap with another margarine tub glued to the top. My daughter once went as a bag of jelly beans too, where we put her into a large, clear bag and filled the bag around her with 200 blown up little water balloons. She liked the costume but spent a great deal of time trying to catch escaped balloons too...lol.

Thanks for the link to the news clip. Admittedly, I've been curious how the blog has panned out for you financially. Congratulations on bringing in extra income writing about your family, all the while never having to leave them! You are very blessed and I love to read about your fantastic life! Keep it up.

9/24 My sister and nephew leave after visiting for 4 days, during which time J (The Oldest, 7yo Boy) and E (The Middle, 4yo Boy) get colds, and J's teacher is so concerned about his lack of smiling that she actually emails me to make sure everything is okay.9/26 J tests positive for strep, they test E, too, and he's positive. They test H (The Youngest, 2yo Girl) just for the heck of it but she's negative.9/28 J's neck gets so painfully swollen that we're forced to put him on steroids.9/29 H's having coughing fits. Bronchitis. 3 kids on antibiotics a week before we leave on vacation.10/7 I wake up with red, goopy eyes. Have to go to Urgent Care because Dr's office is closed on weekend. I'm not supposed to wear my contacts for 10 days, HA!10/8 We leave for Disney. My mom meets us there as a much needed babysitter.10/9 JH (Husband), J, E and I go to Magic Kingdom. J has a blast. E is running a bit of a fever, but seems to enjoy himself if the ride doesn't include water. E complains his tummy hurts that night.10/10 H wakes up barely able to breath. We think it's asthma and bring her to Urgent Care, who don't really check her out before prescribing Albuteral and prednisalon. We decide it's just a bad cold when the albuteral didn't work (we didn't even TRY the prednisalon). E has a fever again and again says his tummy hurts, so JH, J and I go to DisneyQuest while he rests. J has a blast.10/11 We all go to Epcot. E is still running a fever, but it's not that bad and he's acting close to normal and enjoys it most of the time (wants nothing to so with "Honey, I shrunk the Audience" 3D movie since the 3D movie we went to at Magic Kingdom spritzed water on everyone.) J has a blast.10/12 We let H rest and JH, J, E and I go to Typhoon Lagoon, a water park. J has a blast. E goes on a few rides, but every time he gets off he says "that wasn't fun for me". While we are starting to leave, JH notices that E's neck is swollen. I ask if when he said his tummy hurt, he meant his neck? Yes. Argh! While mom and I go to "Arabian Nights", a horse themed dinner theater, JHe talks to the pediatrician and has them call in a prescription, which mom and I pick up on our way back.10/13 We all go to Animal Kingdom. We all have fun, but just when we get to the funnest place for the kids, they announce the park is closed (it's the only big park that closes at 5pm). JH starts saying he feels "weird" and weak. It was supposed to be our date night. Instead, he's throwing up every other hour.10/14 I take JH to Urgent care to make sure he's not dying, which he's sure he is. He has strep throat. I drive my mom up to my aunts house, an hour north. J meets a 6 year old girl that gives him her telephone number before we leave. On the way back I get on the freeway the wrong way, and end up 42 miles from Daytona Beach. We get back very late, and I have to do all the packing after getting the traumatized kids to bed (as far as I could tell in my post-vacation classroom visits, the only thing J told the kids at school about the trip was "Mommy got lost").10/15 We are at the airport 3 hours early because we are all very ready to get home.10/16 JH's parents show up for a weeks visit. They stay in our bedroom, so not only do I go another week away from my bed, I keep forgetting to get out the next days clothes when I go to bed so I have to wait for west coast people to wake up in east coast time to get dressed every morning. At least the kids are now healthy and happy. I NEED A VACATION!!!